Glenn Innes and surrounding areas information and questions

[benhooper859]

Hello Capt. Mendoza & John Paix,

Three of us have planned a fossicking trip to Glenn Innes and surrounding areas. We are three young fit blokes who are novices to the hobby. We have been thinking about getting into the hobby for a while and what we need is someone to show us the ropes.

Our major downfall is that we are not familiar with the area. What we are after is
and willing to pay for is:

1) a local guide to show us some more private spots and tricks of the trade and how to use equipment
2) to give us an exciting and unforgettable experience for out first time

Cheers

 

[Guest]

Ben, learn to crawl before you walk.

You dont just go out and find huge sapphires with someone elses help. There probably is not a single person on here that will show you their secret remote spot, but there are plenty that will show you how to sieve for gemstones.

If it were that easy Sapphires would be worth nothing!

My suggestions would be research this forum, youtube and do some hard yards for yourself to understand just how much hard work this hobby can be and go from there.

All the best I hope you and your friends get involved.

 

[Nugget]

I second the above.

The more you become involved in the forum the better your chances of building relationships with people willing to show you the ropes. As RT mentioned it's not quite as simple as going to a special spot and digging up a Sapphire, there's months even years of research that goes into it, so it's no wonder why people hold this information close to their heart only sharing with selected individuals.

Please don't take our comments the wrong way as we're only trying to help give you a better understanding of prospecting culture.

Cheers,
Nugget

 

[Heatho]

Capt Mendoza I think does the tag along trips up there but I don't think he is a member of this forum, better to contact him through Aussie Lapidary Forum. Im not sure if he does the outings over Winter either.

Ah I noticed your post on ALF, should get you sorted. Though seriously some spots are better than others, nearly every creek and river in the area is gem bearing, just got find access. Plenty of pay to dig spots too.

 

[Heatho]

Oh yeah, as the other guys said you won't get rich digging Sapphires, though you may get lucky one day and find that 1 gemstone that is truly special. Good luck out there.

 

[HeadsUp]

You didnt mention if you were looking for gemstones or gold , people seem to be assuming gemstones.

most people on the forum will do research before they drive to a spot , otherwise you could be wasting fuel and doing more camping than prospecting

If you go to this page

http://nswtitles.minerals.nsw.gov.au/nswtitles/

follow the legend , click on the boxes to show crown land and show existing mining leases or exploration leases you will get a picture like this ;

the yellow area is an existing mineral lease and you generally dont step on to that without asking permission from the mining company

the green area is a national park and you dont go in there unless the laws are changed to allow it one day

any state forests can be prospected into if you have a state forest permit which costs $ 22

some state forests are being converted into conservation areas which means you can go in there unless they change the regulations one day and allow us to.

check out www.NAPFA.net and have a read , they are an organisation that is fighting to get access in to national parks and conservation areas.

if there is a petroleum lease you might get permission to fossick for gems or gold , but if its a gold lease they generally dont allow you to look around there
sometimes you will get permission if you ask

there are maps that you can download from this forum and import into google earth

they will show where many of the reported goldmines were in australia and you can get a map like this

the little gold circles are old gold mines

if you finished doing research at home and go out to the field , you might find the area that youre interested in is on farm land

so you could approach the farmer and tell him you're learning about gold panning or looking for gemstones and ask if its okay to cross through his land , tell him you will clean up after yourself and wont be doing donuts on his best grazing paddocks and wont shoot his prize bull for target practice

some will say yes , some will say no

just be honest and respectful and you never know your luck

do research before you go

always clean up after yourselves or our hobby will be banned before you know it

best wishes

 

[blayke]

Hey all.
Been so long. So busy with work so this weekend I'm saying f it and making the 7 hour drive down from the sunny coast to Inverell and glen innes for some sapphire fossicking, though I have read that there is gold in part also and id live to find some colour from a different area. If anyone has any recommendations on creeks or areas to try it'd be greatly appreciated as i only have a few hours to spare on the way home sunday but a few specks in the vial for my first nsw gold would be special.

Also I've purchased my nsw fossicking license but is there anything more I should know or look out for

Cheers

 

[GaryO]

I think Bingarra is the best gold area up that way ?, might be worth a look at how far it will be from where you are staying.

 

[GaryO]

http://newenglandaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2008/07/fossicking-in-new-england.html?m=1
some good info

 

[Jaros]

It was -1.3 this am there--chilly still. Good sleeping gear would be advised !!

 

[blayke]

Thanks Gary I'm staying at billabong blue but just want to have a poke around crown land on Sunday but bingarra might be the go.

Wow thanks Jaros I expected cold but not negatives. Thankfully I love the cold so that's a bonus in my book

 

[Heatho]

Bugger all gold in Inverell, Bingara or Drake near Tenterfield is the best bet for gold I'd say. Best of luck at BB, will be heading up there myself in about a month, really looking forward to it.

 

[blayke]

Thanks heatho, yeh going to try drake and have a poke around.
Tell me about it. It's been almost a year since I've been able to get into some sapphs so I'm really looking forward it

 

[Chimpy]

G'day,

At one point all the Chinese miners in the area packed up and left en masse, walking to a find on the Mann River, and old cocky up that way once told me. I've always meant to look into it further.

Cheers

Chimpy

 

[Myazma]

Ssshhh nothing to see down that way, plenty of Au around Drake though

 

[Heatho]

Thanks heatho, yeh going to try drake and have a poke around.
Tell me about it. It's been almost a year since I've been able to get into some sapphs so I'm really looking forward it

Hope you get some nice ones mate, please post some pics of the trip and stones when you're able, cheers.

 

[YIPPEKAIAY]

Hey gents yep bingara would be the go and just follow the serpentine,3 creeks gold mines a good place to go especially to get some knowledge im new to prospecting and live in the area and ive found a bit here n there?

 

[Bray]

Hi just wont to introduce my self ,my name is brayden iv just come up from geelong and am amped to get out and explore thr new ingland area,can any one recomend and good spots to start.i will be just panning for now but hoping to gain some good skills and get stuck right in

 

[Heatho]

No mate there's nothing at all up there...... uuuum except for heaps of Sapphires, bit of gold too East of GI. Check out the tourist info centre, they'll have all the info you need as there are quite a lot of places up there to try your luck.

 

[Guest]

Sorry mate i don't do much up that way. cheers